


Prophecy of Power

by pureserenity



Category: Original Work
Genre: Alternate Universe, Brotherhood (sort of), F/M, Power Play, Romance, War
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-05
Updated: 2015-02-08
Packaged: 2018-03-10 15:07:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3294902
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pureserenity/pseuds/pureserenity
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which a steward accidentally fell into a wrong universe during a wrong condition.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Foreword

**Author's Note:**

> If you think that it seems you have ever read this story before but with different characters' name, then you are right! I was the writer too (using different pseuds), but for some reasons I decided to delete that one, change the characters, and then re-write some parts of the story.
> 
> Also, I never learned Latin before. Please kindly forgive if there is mistake in the sentences I tried to make. I'd be glad to be told the correct one(s).
> 
> So, enjoy! :)

> _"Is quisnam vindicatum cuppedia mos perficio imperium."_  
>  He, who claims delicacy, achieves sovereignty.

 

When the hidden prophecy was heard, havoc inevitably happened. Interpreters were ordered to solve the riddle. Allies were gathered to have their loyalty sworn. Enemies planned sabotages.

All started thinking about one thing: _the throne of the Crown Prince would be seized_.

 

***

 

 


	2. Glossary

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The glossary list of this story. It will keep being updated when considered needed.

  


## AIRLINES LINGO

**Crotch watch**  
      _Verifying that all passengers have their seat belts fastened_

**Crumb crunchers**  
      _Kids_

**First Officer**  
      _Co-pilot_

**Line Holder**  
      _Flight Attendant (FA) on Senior level. They can bid their flying schedules, days off, and the members to work with._

**Reserve Flight Attendant**  
 _Flight Attendant (FA) on Beginner level. They are "on-call" FA and cannot bid their flying schedules. They cover sick calls, delays or cancellations of Line Holder and help for under staffed flights._

 

 

## THE ALTERNATE UNIVERSE

The alternate universe is somewhere beyond the clouds. It consists of quite many empires, but only three of them are huge and have most influence in the universe.

**Nimbus Imperium**  
      _The biggest Empire. Well-trained army, most famous politicians, credible leaders are the highlights of this Empire. Respected for their biggest role in maintaining inter-imperia peace. Until its Emperor died, leaving his only Crown Prince to rule..._

**Cirrus Imperium**  
      _The Empire that handles inter-imperia economic relationship. Other smaller empires never wish to piss off the people from this Empire because they are able to cut their supplies. They have great ambition to take over the whole Inter-Imperia Conciliī._

**Altus Imperium**  
      _The Empire with abundant live resources. Due to their geographic condition, they provide most of the basic needs for food, clothes, and woods for other empires. Well-known genius people, sorcerers, and prophecy tellers come from this Empire. Has a really close relationship with Nimbus Imperium - too close that it irks Cirrus Imperium a lot._

**Inter-Imperia Conciliī**  
      _This alternate universe version of United Nations._

\-----------------

**Coluds**  
      _Residents of the alternate universe._

**Palatium**  
      _Palace._

**Prophetes**  
      _Prophecy teller._

**Salve**  
      _The way how the Coluds greet each other._

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	3. The Flight that Leads the Way

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All grammatical and/or vocabulary error rightfully belong to the author. Warning: some probably rated words (maybe?).

 

The thing Mark hated the most about his current job is its _abruptness_. There wasn’t any typical day in his life nowadays. No one was able to tell where he would be tomorrow night or even within the next two hours. Not even his own self.

That was also the case that day. His phone beeped in the morning, right when he was on his way to go to his best friend’s house – the _only_ one he could manage to have in the dynamic city with his dynamic schedule, signaling that he was expected to be on duty within three hours.

Cursing his Captain along his way back to his apartment, he texted his apology to the said best friend for failing to keep his promise for the umpteenth time. It’s not that his friend wouldn’t understand – it’s his job as a VIP Flight Attendant after all, but Mark himself knew that he might have ruined his friend’s schedule too. And no one would be happy to have his schedule on weekend ruined by someone else.

Sometimes Mark thought that maybe moving from major airlines to this chartered jet service was a wrong decision – if not stupid. He truly loved being stationed at Seoul and the job indeed paid much higher, yet the time demand was just similar with what he had been through during the days of him still being the Reserve Flight Attendant. He had to be on-call 24/7, because some important people possibly rented his company’s service at the most unexpected time. And there’s no way he could say no to his duty, because unlike the flights from major airlines which usually have more than four Flight Attendants, there were only two Flight Attendants in his team including him.

So ten minutes later, arriving at his apartment, he went straight to his closet and fished out his Flight Attendant outfit. As he finished putting on his teal blue shirt and his black pants, he started wearing his dark grey tie while at the same time taking his cellphone to contact his partner. He put the cellphone between his right shoulder and right ear – hands were busy working on his tie, and waited for the partner to pick up his call.

“Yes?” a soft voice came through the phone.

“Louise, are we flying to Milan? How many pax do we have today?” Mark asked while calculating in his brain on how long it usually takes to fly to Milan using the jet.

“Wait, I have the detailed info written in my planner. Let me check,” Louise sounded like she was rummaging inside her bag. “Here we go. Yep, it’s a round trip to Malpensa, Milan. Return date is in two days, so we are going to just stay there before coming back with the entourage. It’s eleven-hour flight, non-stop. We have 6 pax here, no crumb crunchers, asking for Ultra Luxury package. Local cuisine, with three-course meal, is preferred.”

Mark took a look at his watch, the private jet was ordered to depart at 1:30 pm so it’s safe for the lunch. They were expected to arrive sometime around 4:30 pm in Milan local time, so they only needed to prepare the dinner and supper according to Seoul time for the main meals. “Any special notes?”

“For catering? Hmm.. Ah, bourbon! They asked for bourbon,” Louise pointed out.

“Okay, then let’s just split the job. You will take care of the catering menu for dinner and supper, with all the snacks and beverages. I suggest using the usual catering service. I will go look for the bourbon. I suppose I will arrive sooner than you, so I will clean the cabin and set everything there,” Mark said while putting on his black suit.

“Great! Nice arrangement,” Louise replied while started writing down the menu list she had in mind. “Oh Mark, final note here, it’s a Class 1 VVIP pax.”

Mark stopped his movement for a while, wrinkle showing on his forehead, before saying, “Government people?”

“Nope, some first-tier businessmen I believe. But they must be so important that the reservation team wrote the final note this way.”

 _Either that, or they are just ridiculously demanding_ , Mark thought.

 

***

 

Just one hour before the scheduled flight, Mark and Louise were busy setting everything inside the cabin. Foods and beverages were being placed into the oven and fridge by Louise, while Mark cleaned and arranged the passengers’ seats and tables. The cabin interior was clean white with some gold ornaments along the roof and floor area, complimented by almost yellowish lighting system, giving an elegant ambience to the eyes that see it. There were four sets of table-seats, where each set consisted of two broken-white seats – which actually looked like huge and expensive sofa instead of ordinary cabin seats – arranged facing one another and a table between them. They were placed into two rows where each row consisted of one set on the right side and another set on the left side, divided by the aisle in the middle. Each seat had its own access to the big window, almost four-times larger than the window commercial plane usually has.

Sometimes, even Mark himself wondered why a person would spend this much money only to gain one type of luxury. It would only last for several hours. Once you got off the jet, everything would be gone.

 _Yeah, but still the prestige would be talked about by many others,_ a small voice inside his brain intervened. Besides, from people like these passengers who love feeding their prestige would Mark earn a good living himself. It’s basically a food chain in another whole level.

When Mark arranged four bouquets of white roses inside a transparent vase on the four tables, the First Officer came inside the cabin, informing both Flight Attendants that their passengers were ready to board. They headed to the door, waiting there all smiles to greet the passengers.

Once two black SUV cars pulled over near the stairs that led to the cabin door, they saw three men coming out from each car. Five of them looked like they were more than forty years old, while the other one was more in his early thirties. All looked suave in their expensive suits, but the youngest just stood out naturally for his handsome yet fierce feature. There was this specific glint in his eyes that made people unconsciously get nervous.

Flight Attendants in commercial flights are trained to serve people, but they don’t do much one-on-one close interaction with the passengers. However, VIP Flight Attendants are to serve people in a more private way that they are trained to observe their passengers just by their attitude and the way they talk to know the best way to serve them. For example, they wouldn’t be too much chatty towards that youngest passenger because the man just exuded intensely the do-not-bother-me vibe.

“Welcome on board, gentlemen,” Louise confidently greeted the businessmen and directed them to get inside the cabin and to their seats. Mark took a further observation towards the passengers while they were getting inside the cabin. The older ones were so noisy – exchanging small talks about how the other played golf better than themselves, pretty much contrasting to the silent young man.

When Louise looked at his direction, Mark stepped forward before asking, “What would you like for your welcome drink, Sir?” His words effectively interrupted the conversations between the men.

“Oh, we have a ball-bearing stewardess here,” one of the old men sneered, inviting his friends to laugh mockingly.

Mark almost narrowed his eyes dangerously before he reminded himself that the person talking was his Class 1 VVIP. He forced a smile instead and lightly replied, “Yes, I am a _male_ flight attendant. Would you like something to drink, Sir?”

“Just serve something fresh. With ice,” another old man stated, his voice is commanding, gesturing his hands to dismiss Mark and Louise. From the way he talked and decided, Mark knew that this man was the leader in that group. Mark bowed before heading to the galley, followed by Louise.

From the first three hours flight, what Mark predicted about his passengers came to surface. They were indeed demanding, not to mention that their requests were said in a distasteful manner. From refusing to have their seatbelt fastened before take-off – causing Mark to do crotch check for five times, insisting that their glasses were kept on the table which in fact might be a powerful projectile to their own head, making both Mark and Louise ran frantically between the galley and seats area to take and serve the snacks and drinks just because they wouldn’t stop ordering, complaining about the lavatory cleanliness while it was _actually_ clean, to forcing at least one of the Flight Attendants to stand by near the seats area so that it wouldn’t cost them extra loud voice to just call for service.

If it was allowed for Flight Attendants to kick passengers out of planes, Mark would have done that to at least three of his by now. _Or_ , maybe he would just kick all of the old ones. But, _yeah_ , too bad it wasn’t possible. And to think that they would fly these people again on their way back to Seoul just unnerved him more.

Well, at least, the youngest one was less troublesome. It was enough to make him strive keeping his nice attitude as Flight Attendant.

 

***

 

When it was near the time to serve another meal – sometime around the sixth hour of them flying, the intercom turned on, signaling that someone from the deck wanted to speak with them.

“Flight Attendant, we have some fog and rough air ahead. Please serve your meal now or you have to do it in another hour or two because both of you will have to sit down,” the pilot said through the intercom.

Mark almost banged his head to the food locker. Truth is, if people from the flight deck even requested the Flight Attendants to sit down, it means the plane would possibly go through something harder than just a turbulence which makes passengers’ stomach stir. That, and the fact their passengers at the moment were troublesome was just not a perfect combination.

Louise automatically came to the seats area, announcing that they were going to serve the main meal. Everything was served quickly, with them feeling slightly grateful that the passengers started to get bored and didn’t talk too much anymore.

They were standing inside the galley, waiting for the passengers to finish the main course so that they could serve the deserts, when the intercom turned on once again and the pilot’s voice could be heard, “Flight Attendants, finish the meal now. We’re going through the rough air.”

The intercom turned off, but another one which could be heard by all passengers turned on. The pilot talked, informing that they regretfully had to halt their meal and fasten their seatbelt. Louise did another crotch check upon the information and Mark quickly took all things put on the tables off and put them to the trolley.

However, right before he put the trolley inside the holder, a severe turbulence hit the plane. He grabbed the food locker with his left hand right away to steady himself with his right hand still holding the trolley so it wouldn’t move around and push it inside the holder. Once again the intercom turned on, the First Officer urged everyone to sit down and fasten their seatbelt. He hastily made his way back to the seats area and saw that all passengers and Louise had seated in silence, worry painted all over their faces.

Being a Flight Attendant for years, people might think Mark was used to feel turbulence like this. He actually _was_ , but to think that he was used to the turbulence that severe was just ridiculous. He had learned about it during his 7-week training before he started the job, but he had never experienced it directly at all. He might look composed and calm, but his heart also pounded really hard it might break his ribcage.

Mark looked over the window and saw that there was continuous lightning outside. The plane seemed steadier for a mere second before another hard turbulence hit the plane again.

Creaking and groaning noises. The plane was rolling side to side every three seconds. Tables were vibrating, throwing books and magazines on top of them everywhere. Sounds of broken glasses could be heard from the galley area.

Light’s off.

 

And someone screamed.

 

***

 

It was all pitch black inside the cabin, except for the emergency light on the floor that supposedly leads to the exit door. How ironic, since the exit was some miles up in the air.

Mark tried to clear his own mind and calm the screaming person from his sitting position. But he just couldn’t do that when suddenly the plane was pushed upward and rolled extremely to the right side. The books and magazines bounced up, flew around and hit everything, including Louise and some passengers.

The plane was pushed downward and rolled again to the left side. When lightning struck again, Mark could see that the left wing of the plane was then below him, indicating that the plane had rolled to one side nearly 90 degrees.

The books and magazines now flew to his side, with a table – clearly had been torn off from its hinges – hitting a window in front of him.

 

And more people screamed.

 

***

 

It happened so fast. Without even both Flight Attendants could manage to assure themselves that what was happening wasn’t training or some sort of pranks.

The plane kept snapping over another way, telling that the pilot was struggling hard to control the effect of vertical drafts hitting the plane with only half of the electrical supports worked.

However, when the last extreme updraft hit the tail area, Mark knew it was _coup de grâce_. Loud cracking sound could be heard so close behind him. He muttered prayers that it wasn’t what he thought it would be. But to suddenly feel a really cold temperature, he realized it was indeed what was happening.

The tail was ripped off of its place.

The tail area is used to keep the plane from swinging left and right and help to steer the plane. Any plane flying without it, not to mention the one that flies under thunderstorms and with electrical problems, is just waiting for its end.

Exposed to the low pressure with extreme adrenaline rush, it was likely that at least half of the people inside the plane had lost consciousness. Mark couldn’t hear much scream anymore. Or maybe that was because all he heard by now was the constant rumbling of the wind outside the plane.

What happened next was pretty much conclusive. The fuselage started breaking into several pieces. Mark saw desperately how he was getting further and further from the man sitting in front of him. He looked around and found that Louise was no longer on his right side. She looked so far away. Tears running on her face, even though her eyes were fully closed.

Then he realized, he wasn’t on his seat anymore. And he could feel one great power pulled him down forcefully.

 

It was _gravity_.

 

***

 

Deep voice of wind barged into his ear. His heart drummed without rhythm.

 _Deafening_.

 

Skies were like ashes. Dark clouds surrounded. Lightning were dancing furiously.

 _Blinding_.

 

Air was running out of his lungs. His limbs were numb.

 _Weakening_.

 

 _So, this is how I die_ , Mark closed his eyes and locked his soul inside. _At least, I’ll die in the sky_. It was probably his last chance to humor himself – trying to cherish his last incremental time of being alive. He knew that no one could survive the adrenaline rush of falling from such altitude.

He started to give in, along with the breath that kept getting thinner and the headache that kept getting stronger. It was as if his whole cells were burst apart and his whole system was shutting down.

Then, he felt something soft blanketed him, shielding him from the deafening noises of the wind. It felt warm. He thought that it must be the time to finally let go.

 _One last look before I can’t see it all anymore_ , small voice in his heart pleaded. Gathering his left strength, he could only manage to open them slightly.

The last thing he saw wasn’t the skies. It wasn’t the clouds. It was _someone_. Someone staring down at him sternly while holding him with both of his arms. And something was covering both of them. It was white and furry. And it was all coming from that someone’s back.

When the white cover finally unfolded, Mark finally figured what it was. _Wings_.

 

_An angel?_

And there went his consciousness.

 

***

 

 

 


	4. The Thing About Power

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All grammatical and/or vocabulary error rightfully belong to the author.

 

_Is quisnam vindicatum cuppedia mos perficio imperium._

Someone mumbled the words repeatedly, as if he was reading a magic spell. His brain was wracked for being forced to rake through its memory and knowledge related to the words since three days before, right after the hidden prophecy was _accidentally_ revealed and created havoc in his empire.

Andriel was left speechless whenever he tried asking himself why his parents never said anything about _any_ prophecy when they were both alive. During those three confusing days, he had visited his father’s grave for about five times, regretfully expressing his distaste in front of the gate about why the said father didn’t even have little decency to let him know the slightest thing about it before he died. He _was_ in fact beside his father all the time from when his father could still speak and recognize people, until his breath was staggering and he closed his eyes and left for good.

Now, he was left all alone, with only little information about whom he can trust and to whom he needed to come to solve this problem. It was bewildering, if not freaking him out.

Don’t get him wrong, he knew since he was still five years old that he would someday be the Emperor, although at that time he couldn’t really grasp what an Emperor actually does. Being the only child of both the late Emperor and Empress, his teenage life was full of him being prepared to rule an empire. He went to the best school, learned about wisdom, practiced his army skill, and being told about the bureaucracy that prevailed in his empire as well as in other empires. And at the age of twenty one, witnessed by the whole citizens, he was finally anointed as the legitimate Crown Prince.

But, despite the fact of him bearing that crown for around seven years already and had observed the way his father ruled, he couldn’t hold absolute sovereignty over the empire as long as he was still _only_ a Crown Prince. He _must_ be anointed as the Emperor first, bear the ultimate crown to make his citizens listen to all his words unconditionally. That was the way it is in his universe.

Nevertheless, there were still another two years for him to be anointed when, in two years, many things were possible to happen. Hence, this prophecy didn’t help him in any way for he knew many people wanted to bear the ultimate crown. Who wouldn’t really, when being an Emperor might mean one could get anything he wanted? And this prophecy just provoked an almost non-existent dream which was barely thought about before, inflaming it to manifest something scarier than just another wild ambition.

It’s funny, _really_ , when people’s rationality and hospitality got so easily enslaved by desire for power in hope that very power could free them from any manacles. They didn’t even realize that being so, they were chained by a thing hundred times more destroying instead. They might have thought it would give them indescribable control upon others, yet in all honesty, it just made them like an empty ship being blown and tossed away by the wind.

 _Utterly meaningless_.

But, for the whole royal’s blood that runs within him and for the sake of his people’s life, the momentum when he needed to stand up and face the cruel entity named _power_ is inevitable. The prophecy didn’t only signify his battle with others for the empire’s throne. It also indicated another _inner_ battle between him and the desire for power to win the throne of his own conscience.

 

***

 

“ _Salve_ , Crown Prince!” a deep voice coming from someone who just stepped into Andriel’s work chamber. Despite his bulky figure and the proud armor blanketed his body, his head didn’t dare to look up, a silent symbol of him being respectful towards the Royal in front of him.

Andriel closed his eyes for a second, wanting to keep his thought inside for a while, before finally turning his gaze to the man. “Do you bring some news, Austiniel?”

Austiniel was maybe one of very few people whom he knew he could trust. Just a few years older than himself, he had known the man for years since Austiniel’s mother was the cook in the _Palatium_ , the place where the Royals lived. They used to play together when they were little. Sneaked out from the Palatium, strolled around the city, even played with other kids in the market. It was the time of them just _being_ children.

It was one of Andriel’s most favorite times to cherish. It was the time colored with all the innocent thought, curiosity, and sincere intention; without complicated strategy to defend what was his and schemes to outrun others.

 _Maybe that’s just what life brought to someone’s life when he got older?  
_ Or, maybe it was just a hidden egocentricity which was let bloomed unwisely.

“About the prophecy?” Austiniel sighed and Andriel could easily interpret the meaning of that expression. “I can hardly say so, Crown Prince,” he sounded wistful, “I am sorry I still can’t do much about anything.”

His words gained a calm and knowing smile in Andriel’s face. “Don’t worry about it. We still have time, I suppose?”

Austiniel stepped forward and fished something out from beneath his armor. It was a piece of paper with random shape – looked like it was ripped in a rush, and one paragraph written in red ink.

“I got this from one of the healers,” Austiniel gave the paper to Andriel and continued explaining, “He said that he coincidentally heard when those people had a secret meeting somewhere in Cirrus.” He paid attention on how Andriel expressionlessly read the writings before he turned his gaze to the dark night outside the window.

 _Some of them had allied,_ he thought. “Could he see who they were?”

Austiniel shook his head. “Unfortunately, no. He was too scared to peek into the room. But one thing he was sure of, someone from Nimbus was there.”

“I am not surprised,” Andriel smiled again, making Austiniel curious of what was inside his mind. Andriel used to be pretty aggressive whenever he handled empire’s affairs, but right after the prophecy had been heard, he surprisingly became much calmer instead. Although Austiniel knew that he was also worried, but somehow from a straightforward and expressive person, he changed into someone so thoughtful and quiet. It was like he made some sort of barrier that couldn’t let others see through him.

Austiniel thought, maybe it was because Andriel understood what might happen later. Even he himself had to admit, the whole things might get bloody if it developed to something worse. Thus, this newly-built barrier was maybe a shield Andriel made to protect himself.

“You know, Austiniel,” Andriel’s voice came softly, his eyes were back to looking outside the window, “The thing I am most afraid of is to find out later on that someone so close to me is the one who will betray me.”

Andriel chuckled softly. Austiniel looked at his face, trying to read the layers of emotions running there, before he sat himself on the chair in front of Andriel. He understood that at the moment, Andriel would likely need a companion to talk to rather than a General who report things.

“The close relationship that had been built for years might be vanished in just a matter of time. The shared happiness and struggles would be seen as nothing. We would hurt each other,” Andriel continued with a softer tone, “Badly.”

“They said you’ve got no friends in politics, Andriel,” Austiniel smiled softly, making him scoff.

“Despite that saying had been so realistically proven many times decades ago, but you do need friends to make an empire grow strong. It’s not a hard work from one person only – not to mention that the person is always insecure that others may snitch his position away any time possible,” he stood up from his seat, approaching the rectangular window. His eyes turned dreamy. “You really can’t think about how to make your citizens prosper, how to solve their problems, or how to provide good education for the children in this empire when you are so busy calculating your enemies’ moves.”

Silence followed afterwards. Both of them were lost in their thoughts for a while. Deep inside, Austiniel understood the sense in Andriel’s words. It wasn’t that Andriel had this unquenchable thirst of honor. The throne was more than just responsibility. It was a considerable burden for him. Having to bear thousands’ lives and future on his shoulders demanded his all, but the given situation was tremendously hard, making him almost clueless on how to act.

Then, it was Austiniel’s turn to stand up from his seat and said, “Is there anything else you want me to do?”

Andriel stared at him blankly before suddenly he remembered something. “Someone came to me yesterday and told me that the revealed prophecy might be not a complete prophecy. It was just a small part,” he said while thinking hard. “Maybe you can find any information about this. Because if it is true, then it means what the Interpreters are doing is pretty much useless. They are interpreting something which is not correctly meaningful.”

To think logically, if the prophecy was not even made to tell anything about this era, then all the fuzz created by it was in vain and just an act of time and energy wasting.

“Then, we must start looking from when that prophecy was made and who told that, I suppose?” Austiniel inquired.

“True,” Andriel concluded. “But we might be able to refine the search. If we assume that this prophecy was held long enough by my ancestors, the fact that decades ago _only_ Altus had _Prophetes_ may be a great help for us. So, you better search from there.”

Austiniel’s expression changed brighter quite drastically. “You know that my mother’s brother married someone from Altus, right? His wife’s family was one of the oldest and biggest families in Altus. I shall make a visit there,” he bowed before turning around towards the exit door.

“But, be careful,” Andriel shouted right before he reached the door. “I don’t want one of my trusted friends get hurt.”

Austiniel just smiled back at him before he really made his exit.

 

***

 

It was silent. _Terribly silent_. As if the wind had decided to go speechless, refusing to sing its melody to improvise the darkness of the night. Or maybe it was just being polite for the sleeping figures with their resting minds after the long hours of them doing their daily activities.

Only a sound of someone whimpering could suddenly be heard. He sounded... Breathless? No, it’s an understatement _._ He was _suffocated_.

Yes, Mark was suffocated. He hopelessly tried inhaling much air and forced it into his lungs, but to no avail. He helplessly strove moving his hands around, silently wished that maybe someone would see him, yet all he could do was just move his fingers slightly.

He just couldn’t feel his surroundings. Everything was blurry and vague. It was painfully confusing while his body felt confusingly painful.

And, it scared him. A lot.

 _H-help…_ He screamed loudly inside his mind – half realizing that probably no one would ever hear that. The pain and fear built inside him, together creating calamity to his brain.

 _Help me… Please…_ He heard his scream again, but still the voice was inside his own mind. He finally gave in to his tears; allowing them to run freely from his closed eyes. Such a collinear response to his desperation.

Until so suddenly, he could feel someone’s palm on his chest and heard him whispering in his right ear. It was so soft, voiced out in a low yet firm tone. “Calm down. You’re safe here,” the whisperer said. “There’s nothing to worry about. Calm down.”

It was surprising at how immediate the palm on Mark’s chest and those words being whispered made his body and mind relaxed. He was miraculously able to breathe well again. Tears were stopped, and the unconsciousness steadily kidnapped him back.

Maybe after all, what Mark’s inner persona needed was only to affirm that he was alive and that at least someone else was with him.

 

***

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


End file.
